The Chanter of Elegies
by Symmetrical-Neko
Summary: (An AU where Keisaku Satou is the carrier of the Midnight's Lost Child.) Keisaku's world is changed forever when a flame haze who calls herself the Chanter of Elegies tells him he is no longer a real existance. He joins her in her mission to keep the balance between the crimson world an his own while trying to keep up with her exessive drinking at home. (KeisakuxMargery Centric)
1. The Blazing UltraMarine

**This series is a somewhat rewrite of Shakugan no Shana with a character switch. (Along with several other changes) Instead of Yuuji, Keisaku is now the Mystes with the Midnight's lost child and Margery is the flame haze who he fights along side. (So KeisakuxMargery centric)**

* * *

_The tall blonde woman sat cross legged on top of one of the taller skyscraper ledges in town. She rested her left elbow on the green hardcover book she propped up leaned against and her blonde ponytail flowed slowly in rythym with the soft night breeze. The woman looked down with a half-smirk at the night view of the urban city. _

_"This city..." was all she said, but her companion was quick to finish for her._

_"This city, you got that right. All these torches. I sense a powerful Crimson Lord in the city and I think there is another Flame Haze hanging around the outskirts of town. And to top it all off that bastard Lamies is hiding out here." The voice of her companion chuckled. _

_"He really did a good job luring us to a place he could easily hide. Be as that may... I still get a strange feeling from the city. And not just from the torches, Denizens and Flame Haze. It's dull looking but still..." She paused. "Why do I get the feeling something is going to happen here."_

_A loud laughter came from the book. "Well with two Flame Haze, A Lord and a Denizen I'm sure they'll be clashes every which way. Luckily we're more than up for a good fight." _

_"A good fight, huh..?" She repeated, _uncharastically_ disinterested in the topic of battle. "No it's something else about this place that's getting to me. I feel like something big and unexpected is bound to happen here, but not exactly in the climactical fashion we're expecting. But still..." Her twisted smirk dropped as a distant look worked her way into her gaze. She continued to look down from the skyline._

Chapter 1 -

The streets and sidewalks of Misaki city were lightly scattered with cherry blossom petals on that morning. They weren't quite in full bloom yet, which was strange for this time of year. The residential students of the town were much more lively than normal this morning- after all, it was the first day of school. For them the new school year meant new classes, new friends, new teachers... a new beginning; a new chapter.

Keisaku Satou was one student who didn't find any excitement on the first day of school in Misaki City. In fact it was just as uninteresting as any day in that town. It was a city with lots of people yet nothing exciting seemed to happen. It just so happened to be the city his parents left him in, he truly had no personal attachments to the place. Day in and day out nothing changed. But the simple and mundane life in Misaki city could easily be taken for granted in just a few short seconds.

Keisaku slammed his locker door shut and heaved an exhausted sigh "Dude, let's just go home after lunch break. I'm already done with school thing." He complained to his class skipping companion, Eita Tanaka.

Said friend, the taller dark haired one shook his head in amusement "Ahh man, quitting already? Let's at least stay for the first day. If we don't like it we'll have all year to skip as we please." He tried to bargain. Keisaku felt there was an ulterior motive to his friend wanting to stay, but decided not to press the matter.

"Okay, but I'll have to see how motivated I am after lunch before I make any promises."

"Yeah, I know." Eita nodded, closing his own locker door as well. Before heading to class with his friend he briefly glanced to greet a light brown haired schoolmate a few lockers next to him. He stood next to another classmate with black hair and glasses. "Yo." Eita said casually.

The brown haired boy looked bewildered for a moment after Eita's greeting, but seconds later responded. "Oh, Good Morning!" he shouted cheerfully.

Keisaku's eyebrow twitched slightly. The volume of his voice was unnecessary, and not to mention a bit obnoxious. "You don't have to yell…. we can hear you- you know." The boy flinched slightly at his response but Keisaku ignored it and turned towards class.

"Those honor students sure are chirpy in the morning." He commented to Eita.

"How can you tell they're honor students?" His friend asked.

Keisaku shrugged. "Well what other kind of student would be that happy on a school morning?"

When the pair reached their classroom and settled in their seats, two female classmates immediately approached them. First was a short red haired classmate whom they were all too familiar with. Matake Ogata. A friend from middle school. She was eager to approach them, as they were one of the few familiar things to her in the new school environment.

Trailed behind her was a girl with long dark brown hair, which she wore down except for the small pigtails on each side of her head. Keisaku and Eita recognized her as Yukari Hirai, but didn't know much about her besides her name.

"Hey guys, didn't expect you guys to actually show up on time." Ogata teased. "Perhaps this will be your turn around year?"

"I wouldn't count on that..." Keisaku answered as he rested his cheek in his palm.

"Hey Hirai-san, how's it going?" Eita casually greeted the brunette who had yet to take part in the conversation.

Yukari's cheeks flushed a bit after he spoke to her but she was able to force out a smile. "T-tanaka-kun, nice to see you!" She said nervously, but still managed to keep her cheerful attitude.

His classmate's strange reaction briefly caught Keisaku's attention. The blushing… the stuttering. _'That's weird… maybe she has a crush on Tanaka or something?'_ He assumed. But without any further evidence for the theory, the thought didn't interest him enough to occupy his mind very long.

Before classes started Keisaku noticed a few familiar faces in his homeroom. Two being the friendly boy from earlier that morning and his friend with the glasses. After attendance he learned their names were Sakai Yuji and Ike Hayato. Their childhood friend Makate seemed to be hitting it off well friendship wise with Yoshida Kazumi, the short haired brunette a seat ahead of her. Besides that no one in particular stood out.

The classes themselves were rather uneventful, and like usually he gave them minimal attention. Despite the boring morning, Keisaku allowed his friend to convince him into staying for the afternoon classes. A decision he immediately regretted the minute after lunch ended.

After school had finally ended he decided he would not allow anything to distracting him from getting home. After school he made his way down the streets of Misaki city with the thoughts of a much needed rest in mind as he headed home. But yet, he was interuptted even still.

"S-satou-kun!" A voice called out from behind him. He mentally groaned to whoever it was. He just wanted to get home and he was already halfway there.

A brown haired girl from his class finally caught up to him. She stopped in her tracks, panting after finally being able to reach him.

"Hirai-san?" He question in surprise.

"S-satou!" She looked up and smiled with relief. "I'm so sorry to stop you like this. But I couldn't help but notice you were heading the same way home as me…. and so I thought this would be a good time to talk to you. You see… I've been meaning to ask you something."

"Okay, ask then." He said blankly. He tried to hide the urgency in voice so as not to sound rude.

"R-right… this may sound weird… but it's actually about Tanaka... I know you're his friend and all so-"

"Oh, you like him or something, don't you?" He interrupted, the indifference still in his voice.

Hirai's face blushed, letting him know his guess was correct. "How…did you know?"

Keisaku shrugged. "I found it obvious. But to the point, what did you want to ask about him?"

The cheerful girl fidgeted nervously, she clearly did not see Keisaku's rush to end the conversation as she took her sweet time to respond. "I guess I just wanted to know… if he had a g-girlfriend… or someone's he's interested in!" She choked out.

He swung his bag over his shoulder and smiled. "No. He doesn't. I don't even think he has anyone in mind yet..."

Hirai gave a satisfied and grateful nod. "That's great, thank you Satou-kun!" She smiled. "I'll see you at school tomorrow- Oh, that is if you decide to come." She giggled at her own joke. She quickly gave him a small bow before walking off cheerfully.

He watched his classmate happily skip away for a moment. "So a classmate has a crush on Tanaka. Wonder what he'll think." He thought before continue his way back home. _'But I wonder why she couldn't ask him herself? I think I'd rather hear that directly from the person I like...'_ Yukari Hirai was still a few paces in front of him, she must live in the the same direction too. Keisaku carefully trailed slightly behind to avoid awkward conversations.

Despite his determination to get home, Keisaku felt he needed to stop for a moment. Something felt off about the air, it felt calm yet… ominous. And it was only seconds later a trails of blue lighted strips spread across the ground going every which way. Before he had a chance to question it or question no one else's reaction to them everything turned a deep red. The sky, the buildings, everything was covered in a red colored scheme.

This time Keisaku did check the reactions of those around them only to find them at an awkward stand still. Not a soul moved. It was like time had stopped for everyone... but him.

"What the hell is this?!"

His thoughts were cut by a trembling at the ground. Out of the dark red shadows a hideous beast came stomping down the streets. It was huge, as tall as some of the buildings. It resembled a human child but clearly demented in someway. It's skin was a greyish purple and it had shark teeth. Next to it was what looked like a sphere of faces from multiple mannequin heads.

As it opened it's mouth, the crowd around him was swept over with a pale white flame. The flames from the fire of each person flowed into the strange creature's mouth. He looked around in both confusion and terror at the site of everyone disappearing around him. Even his fellow classmate Hirai whom he had just spoken with… she had become a victim to the devouring flame.

"Hirai-san!" He called out her name without thinking.

The shout from his voice caught the odd pair's attention as the child-like beast turned to face him.

"What's this? He's moving around inside the seal but he doesn't look like a Flame haze or a Denizen…" The monster questioned.

"That is true…" The doll faced sphere floated over to get a closer look. "Ahh, he's a mystes!" It declared in delight.

Even if Keisaku had the slightest clue of what their words meant, he was too petrified to understand them.

The boy froze in fear as the monster took a step towards him and extended its arm out. It was reaching for him. Keisaku didn't understand what that creature was, what it wanted and why everything was around him was red, but he did know he was in grave danger.

_'This is bad… I need to run!'_ He screamed to himself, but yet his legs didn't listen. The infant monster took another step and reached down, he watched terrified as its giant hand hovered over him. Keisaku covered his head with his arms and let out a scream, the only thing he could do.

But in that moment that he believed he was about to be grabbed, lucked turned out to be in his favor. Just as the hand was just about to reach him a large claw out of no where swiped at the upper arm, completely severing it from the body. Instead of blood, pure white sparks spewed out of the severed limb as the monster screeched in pain.

"Flame Haze!" The smaller monster shouted in alarm. It's last words before being completely swallowed in a marine blue flame

Keisaku looked up when he felt he was _somewhat_ safe. Another giant monster had entered the red arena. This one took the form a purplish-blue werewolf creature with yellow eyes. While it was less disgusting than the child like beast, something about it was more intimidating.

He took a step back as he watched it launch another attack on the monster, sinking it's teeth into it's shoulder. 'Not another one...' he thought. At the very least the monsters seemed to be fighting each other. The first that attempted to devour him couldn't do much more than defend itself against this new beast that appeared. And even then, they seemed to be struggling with doing just that. The child-like monster managed to pry itself away from the grip of the wolf's jaws and took a few steps back.

"We should have known a tool of destruction would show up…" It spat in disgust. The monster engulfed itself in a pure white flame, and transformed into a much smaller form. A small orange haired doll flew out of the flames as the larger figure disappeared.

"Hmph. My Master won't let this go over lightly for you, Flame Haze!" It simply huffed, the body vanishing instantly. and dispersing into small flakes of white light.

_'It turned into a tiny doll? I wonder if that's what it's original form was or something.'_ The arena still was bathed in red and ultramarine blue flames scattered around the ground.

The last beast left took a step in the direction of Keisaku, the boy felt his heart stop for second, assuming this one was after him just like the last. It had to be, didn't it? The familiar ultramarine blaze swept over area as the beast disappeared from site. As the flames slowly rose up and disappeared into the air a silhouette of a woman could be made out.

And there she stood as the remaining blue flames dissolved in the air around her. She was a tall, mature looking, if he had to guess she was about early to mid twenties. Her waist length blonde hair was tied up into a ponytail and she wore a purple dress suit with black heels. Oddly, there was a olive green book strapped over her shoulder and she wore it as if it were a purse.

This woman who appeared out of no where turned to face him, staring at him with indifference in her dark blue eyes. Keisaku took this moment to truly take in the sight in front of him. Undeniably, this woman was very beautiful and yet she had an overpowering presence to her. But who was she… and what was she doing here?

On her perspective though, Keisaku Satou looked like random adolescent boy gawking at her, which caused her to frown in annoyance a bit.

"What's a kid like you doing inside the seal?" She spoke up for the first time.

"The… seal?" He only blinked at her question.

"Well you're definitely not a Flame Haze; if you were you'd be a horrible one considering you were almost eaten by a Rinne. And you don't seem to be a Denizen… are you human?" She asked.

_'Am I human…? Did she really just ask that? What else would I be?_ He wondered.

The sound of laughter broke out in the direction on the woman, but in a voice clearly not belonging to her.

"What are you tipsy already, my overlooking heroine Margery Daw? All it takes is a quick glance to see we got ourselves a torch here… A Mystes in fact!" A loud male voice teased.

The blonde woman blinked "A Mystes you say? But even so A Mystes generally can't move inside a seal. There must be something special inside him… and I bet this is what those Rinne were after." A small smile twitched. "If Friagne's Rinne were chasing after it, It makes me curious what kind of Treasure Tool is within it. Now that I've taken a good look, there is something strange about this one."

"Don't tell me you're gonna waste your time on it! Ahahah-" The voice spoke again. It appeared to be coming from the dark green book she had tucked under her arm, as it was cut off when her fists delivered a punch to it's cover.

She let her fist rest on the hardcover for a moment and shut her eyes in irritation. "I'll decide for myself what I waste my time on. Nobody asked you Marco… Let's not forget this thing could easily have Friagne attention."

_'It...? Thing...? Why are they talking about me in such a dehumanizing way?'_

After taking a moment to collect herself she reopened her eyes and calmly looked to Keisaku again. "Now back to you… by that dumbfounded look on your face, I'm assuming this is your first time in a seal like this?"

"Uh…. so wait, you know what's going on here? The monsters? Time stopping? Everything turning red? You know about all of this?" He asked.

"Ahhh not the questions… I forget how much a pain explaining the crimson world is" She groaned as she rubbed her temples. "Let's just start with introductions shall we? I'm called the Chanter of Elegies, Margery Daw."

"Mar… Margery…" He hesitantly tested out her name. 'I don't think I've seen anyone like her ever before... I'm not sure what it is though.'

"Anyways!" She held up her index finger and allowed a light blue flame to shoot upwards into the air. That instant the red stained world slowly faded to normal. The people on the streets picked up right where they left off as if nothing Keisaku had witnessed happened.

All in all, it was like everything turned back to normal… with one small exception. Now that everyone was moving about again, he noticed a small blue flame wavering in each of their chests.

He quickly turned his attention back to the woman who called herself Margery, she stood on the side of the street watching the crowd skeptically. For a moment he hesitated to call out to her again. She was the only other person who could explain what was happening. Even though Everyone was moving about back to normal again he couldn't help but feel there was something he should still be worried about.

He decided to go for it. "Y-you said you would explain what happened to me?"

Margery Daw seemed to remember he was there once he spoke up. She crossed her arms and smiled. "Yeah, that I did. But first let's make a little deal?" She raised an eyebrow. "You take me somewhere I can get a drink at and I'll tell you all you need know."

_I knew the moment the world turned red that things wouldn't be the same anymore. But even at this point I didn't know the true gravity of the situation I was in. I had no idea what I was, the treasure that was kept inside me, and the path those ultramarine flames, blazing with revenge and hatred would take me down. The day we met was the day my world was displaced_

* * *

**I'm starting it off somewhat simillar to Yuji and Shana's story but I do plan for it to take of in a different direction. (after corpse collector it will show more noticable differences) Alsoooo ****I had Yukari have a crush on Eita instead of Ike because Keisaku has no relations to Ike. **

**So what do you think so far? Please review~**


	2. A Lost Existance

**Longer chapter because I wanted to write more than just Margery's explanation to Keisaku since, well... we already know how the crimson world works and I don't wanna be boring**

* * *

The Chanter of Elegies; Margery Daw was rather surprised when the place the boy took her to was none other than his own home. At first she thought he was joking but the wide assortment of alcohol in the bar room proved otherwise.

"Wow, you sure know how to live kid. To think you own all this and you're still underage! What a shame. Well, I suppose to good samaritan in me says I should drink all this for you. Can't let it go to waste now, can we?" The blonde Flame haze smiled crookedly and pressed her hands against the glass.

"Kid, you're gonna regret this." That talking book warned him. "Once she starts drinking it's all over!"

"Oh shut up… stupid Marco. I can handle my liquor just fine." An obvious lie.

Keisaku shrugged. "Whatever, indulge all you want. Not like anyone else lives here. But first I'd like to get that explanation?"

"Oh?" She glanced over her shoulder, remembering the original reason for coming here. "Right... I almost forgot." She stood up and walked over to the couch were Keisaku sat at. She plopped herself next to him and hummed.

"Hmmm… I guess I'll just start with the part torches like you will find most alarming. It will all be easier to explain after that. If you can even handle the first part that is. Okay, so basically…. you died." She stated blankly.

Keisaku didn't find her 'joke' too funny, and just returned her statement with an unamused stare.

"I did not die. I'm right here. Stop messing around and tell me what _really_ happened."

Margery shook her head and smiled as if expecting that response.

"You may have your own thoughts and conscience as if you were still a living existence, but you're not the real you. Your existence was drained by something called a crimson denizen and likely you didn't notice."

"What the hell are you saying… What's this 'real me' business? I'm Keisaku Satou and I'm alive and well. I'm pretty sure I would know who I am more than you would."

"Okay then mister smarty pants… if you know so much about your existence why don't you explain that to me?" She pointed her finger at his chest. He glanced down and saw that small blue flame flickering inside. It was just like the one he saw in everyone else to the street that day.

"Well… well I…" He fumbled. He had no clue what it meant or what it had to do with his existence.

"That's what I thought. Now let's try this again, and this time without any back talk. I swear It's always so hard to get things through to you torches."

"Oh now can you blame him? Humans can't wrap their heads around the crimson world so easily. Torches even more so. Try explaining it a little better my queen of impatience, Margery Daw." Marchosias said. "Besides, you're the one who took it upon yourself to work with this Mystes. Let's just hope the payoff will be-Ahh" He was cut off yet again.

"Ugh...such a hassle. Listen to me kid… err, Keisaku was it? Well listen here Keisaku. There small blue flame inside you and everyone else who happened to be in the town square during that event. And I'm sure you've noticed. Well you'll only find those in torches. Torches aren't people. They're temporary replacements of a person whose power of existence was drained by a Crimson Denizen. And you my friend… are one of those victims."

"A Crimson Denizen… so that monster? One of those monsters killed me and I didn't notice?"

"Not quite, what attacked back there was Rinne, servants to a Denizen; I won't get into specifics. killed isn't exactly the right word either… your existance was taken. Although at the end of the day, Keisaku Satou is still dead no matter how you put it."

"That's impossible though. I'm Keisaku Satou!" he protested again."And I feel the exact same way as I always have."

"Seriously? You're going to argue with me still?" She asked him amusedly. "Look kid if you're not going to listen to me then why did you ask me for my explanation? You're just wasting my time." Margery said as she got up and headed straight for the shelf at the bar.

He realized she knew what she was talking about more than he did. But the idea of dying back there was not one he could wrap his mind around. Especially when he was sitting right there feeling perfectly normal. And she was telling him this wasn't the real him? That he was long dead?

"S-sorry. I'm not trying to be rude but what you're saying isn't exactly believable."

Margery shrugged as she popped the cork of one of the wine bottles. "Not my problem if you don't believe me. It won't be long until you fade away so it doesn't matter to me. All I know is I plan on seeing your torch burn out until the end. You're a torch with a Treasure Tool inside of you, so that makes you kinda special so to speak." she pressed the bottle's opening to her lip and began chugging.

"Hold on a second." Keisaku blinked. her explanation only gave him more questions. " So, I have something called a Treasure Tool in me? And what was that about me fading away? You never said anything like that before."

Begrudgingly Margery parted the bottle from her mouth and sighed. "You're just full of questions aren't you? I told you you're a torch. They gradually fade away as the people around them slowly forget the person existed. It's to help prevent distortions. The world would be a mess if people were up and disappearing out of no where, don't you think? If they gradually fade away the world keeps spinning as if nothing went wrong." She took another sip before continuing. "And treasure tools are just rare items that have a special power. Sometimes they end up in special torches called a Mystes. It's not really worth going into detail since it won't affect you. Don't worry, I won't take yours until you fade away. Those monsters just wanted your treasure tool too... though it falling into their hands would be more troublesome."

"Fade away!? How can you be so casual about this" Keisaku's eyebrows furrowed. "You're telling me I'm going to disappear! I'm pretty much am going to die and no one is going to remember me!"

"Correction: You're already dead. You're just a torch. But yes, you will be gone and no one will remember you. Unfortunately that's how this cruel world works. I bet you anything there are people in your past who were once a part of your life that you can't remember anymore. As if they've never existed. In fact I'm sure of it, it happens more often than you'd think."

"That's cruel… that's not fair… Stop playing this off as if it's not a big deal! You're tell me that I…"

"I'm telling you that you will soon no longer exist." She finished for him without any sympathy. "Look here, I've had several hundred years to desensitize myself. You can't honestly expect me to make a big deal out of what I've dealt with countless times. Regardless my goal is to kill every single one of those damn denizens to makes sure people like you don't get consumed. I've kill thousands of Denizens in my hundreds of years as a flame haze."

"Hundreds of years? Flame Haze?" It felt like every time she tried to explain something, her answer only gave him more questions. He prayed there was an end in sight to the confusing concepts and strange terminology.

"Flame haze basically means I fight those Denizens who drain power of existence. Flame haze's contract themselves to a crimson lord for power. Mine is stupid Marco over here." She tapped the grimoire lightly. "He may look like a normal book but he is actually a great crimson lord called Marchosias, the claws and fangs of violation. I made my contract with him around 400 years ago as a way to get revenge on someone who wronged me. Ever since then we've been hunting together."

"I see…" Keisaku looked down at his lap. "So are you guys… good?"

Magery laughed halfheartedly. "That's for you to decide. Everyone has their own idea of good and evil. Marco and I just live and fight the way we do because we believe what we're doing is right. We've come across plenty who would say we are in the wrong."

'Well at least she's killing monsters instead people. That's good enough in my book.'

Keisaku ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep breathe. He was beginning to understand but yet it was a lot to take in.

"Is there a way to fix it?" He finally said.

"Hmmm?" Margery tilted her head at his vagueness.

He asked her again but with more intensity in his voice. "My existence, I can fix it right? How can I return to normal before I fade away!"

The flame haze gave him a wary look, realizing she was treading a dangerous area. Once a torch finally is forced to accept their fate for what it is, who knows how they'll react.

"Impossible" She said as blankly as she could. "The damage can't be reverse, and even if it could you're not a core existence. Your only fate is burn out."

"That's cruel…" He whispered lowly.

"It's not. It's reality..." Margery looked back at him, his pupils were still shaking at her explanation. It appeared he was still letting it all sink in. Luckily he wasn't having a panic attack or breakdown like other torches would, but he was still shaken nonetheless. She sighed. "So not that you know the truth, what will you do?"

* * *

That evening Keisaku was stuck thinking over his entire existance, and meanwhile Chanter of Elegies stuck around occupied by drinking. It was getting late… and Keisaku was getting very tired. Unfortunately he wasn't sure how he was going to sleep being around...her.

"And THAT is exactly why Outlaw doesn't let me stay for extended periods of time. Can you believe them? Saying Denizen hunting isn't a cemp- err...competition! Yeah! But they only say that because they're losing! Why do they always gotta tell me about the mission like that. They sound just like the crimson lords when they talk about it." The blonde flame haze slurred. She was sprawled out on the couch using Keisaku's lap as a head rest. And she was extremely drunk. She was no longer speaking any useful information to him, just rambling on about random stories he couldn't see a point in.

"Is that so." Keisaku played along as if he were paying attention.

"Yeah! And then I got in trouble for picking fights with other flame hazes. Something about how outlaw is a place to gather in peace. But they rub me the wrong way so of course I'm gonna fight them! Trying to lecture me on how to do my job… Hmph! I say It's my power and I'll use it how I want. Most of them don't have enough guts to stand up to me anyways."

"I see… Sounds frustrating" He replied, still playing along.

"Ah I'm so glad you understand Keisaki. It's so nice to have someone who gets me!"

"It's Keisaku and to be honest I haven't followed half of what you've been saying."

"Kid, you might as well keep appeasing her like you have been doing in. There's no reasoning with this woman when she's drunk!" Marchosias laughed.

The mystes glanced to the side. "I didn't think she was going to get drunk… didn't she say earlier she could handle her liquor just fine?"

"Don't you know a lie when you hear one? This woman doesn't know the meaning of-"

The chanter threw one of her empty bottles at the grimoire to silence him. "Stupid Marco is always being mean to me! Can you believe what I have to put up with."

'No, but I can imagine what HE has to put up with' He said under his breath. Thankfully the intoxicated flame haze didn't hear him.

"Hey Kid, Keigero, was it? why aren't you drinkin'? I thought this was a party?!" She giggled waving one of the bottles in his face.

Keisaku simply swayed his head in the opposite direction. "Keisaku and I'm underage. Just how drunk are you?"

"Under age? Keisadu you're a flame haze now! You can do whatever you want! Even drink… no, especially drink"

"I'm not a flame haze… don't you think you've had enough?"

"What that's crazy talk! There's no way I've had enough until everyone else joins in on the party too! After all… it's not fun without… withou-zzzz" Margery's head dropped down as she fell into a sudden slumber. Keisaku could only shake his head at the sight.

"To think she burnt out this fast. I don't know how you can keep up with her Marchosias. For how long now? 400 years?"

"You're telling me, kid." Marchosias laughed. "She's by far one of the most interesting flame hazes I've had the chance to contract with. Although don't get me wrong, I don't think I'd ever regret it."

"Really?" Keisaku looked back down at the past out girl in his lap before looking back up.

"Hey… Margery said something earlier about contracting with you to get revenge on someone. What did that mean?"

"Curious? Why don't you have a look for yourself…" His voice smirked.

The book must have cast some sort of spell, because suddenly Keisaku's mind was flooded with images. A Denizen in a silver armor with countless eyes. It was slaughtering everyone. Burning everything to the ground.

_'Stop it! They're mine! They're mine to kill!'_

Keisaku's eyes snapped back to reality. He shook his head to clear away some of the images still remaining. "God, what was that?!"

"Well, you asked didn't you? That's the Silver. The Denizen Margery swore to get her revenge on 400 years ago. That was the day I contracted with her. The anger and hatred felt for that Denizen was what caught my interest."

"I guess I was expecting the Denizen to kill someone she cared for… but in the end it just killed people she wanted to see killed. No offense, but I don't see why she would be so upset about that. If she wanted them dead, she should be happy with it.

Marchosias could only laugh. "You sure are naive."

He puffed out his cheek slightly in a pout. He still didn't understand the reasoning which was all the more frustrating. "Will did she ever get her revenge?"

"Not yet… not in all these years has anyone heard of a Denizen with a silver flame. But her desire to take revenge on that Denizen is what makes her the flame haze she is now. She is a rare case, even among other flame hazes."

"I see, I think we should stop this talk though. It don't feel right prying into a girls personal life while they're passed out. I should probably get some sleep myself anyways." The mystes carefully slid out from under the sleeping flame haze without waking her. He grabbed a blanket setting next to the couched covered her with it.

"Awww, well isn't that precious." Marchosias teased

Keisaku just rolled his eyes. "Good night guys."

* * *

"God damn you, stupid Marco I'll kill you…. or even better… kill me! Ugh just make it stop already" Margery groaned as she clamped her head between her hands in. Her crimson lord only responded with another outburst of laughter.

"I won't use the cleansing flame on you just yet my dear Margery Daw. You're going to have to suffer that hang over just a bit longer."

"Damn you… damn you stupid Marco… just wait until I get my hands on you…" Margery wearily attempted to reach out to Marchosias, however this proved useless as she was stuck on the couch while her partner hovered on the opposite side of the room.

"Marchosias why won't you help her out?" Keisaku asked. "It's a bit harsh making her suffer like that."

"You don't understand, kid." The book replied. "If I cleanse her now she won't learn her lesson and she'll be back at again tonight."

"I guess it can't be helped then." Keisaku sighed. Margery didn't let up on her death threats to Marchosias but he made a good point.

"Stupid… stupid marco…" She tried reaching desperately for him again, leaning more off the couch. "What if the Corpse Collector or Friagne makes a move-ah!" She cut herself off when she tumbled forward on the floor.

"Don't you worry, if I sense either one of them I'll cleanse you." he assured her. "But you're on your own until then."

"Corpse collector and Friagne?" Keisaku tilted his head.

"Yeah, Friagne the hunter is a crimson lord. Corpse Collector Lamies is a Denizen. I came to this city to hunt them." Margery explained as she rubbed her temples. She stood up and turned to Keisaku. "Hey what time is it? Don't you have school or something?"

Keisaku shrugged. "Yeah, but I don't usually like going. Besides.." his voice dropped. "Is there really a point in me going anymore? All my friends are going to forget me. I can't explain to them what is going to happen to me. And to be honest… I don't want to face them. I don't want to face that I won't exist to them anymore. It will be better for them too that I don't show up"

Margery looked at him sympathetically. "You probably don't want advice from someone like me, but I don't think avoiding them will make parting with them any easier."

"Yeah, well I think differently…" He said bitterly. "What about you though?"

Margery blinked "What about me?"

"Will you remember me?"

The chanter smiled and nodded. "Yup, we Flame hazes are a part of the crimson world. So we can remember those who have disappeared."

"Then can I…." Keisaku glanced to the side, feeling a bit embarrassed. "Then can I go with you?"

"Go… with me?"

"Yeah… Instead of school, maybe I can help you with your hunt on the Friagne and Lamies guy. I think that's what I'd rather do…"

Margery raised a questioning eyebrow. "You wanna help me? I'm sure your realize your days are numbered to only a few more. You should be more particular with how you want to spend them. Not to mention, I'm hunting denizens who drain power of existence. Corpse Collector especially targets torches whose flames are dying. Helping me could shorten what little time you have left."

"Yeah but… What else can I do? I just… I just don't want to feel like my existence will be a waste!" He blurted. "It'll just hurt seeing all my friends and having to dwell on the fact that all the memories I've made and bonds I've formed won't mean anything. I would rather be with someone who will remember me..." Keisaku smiled weakly. "I'm sure you've encountered countess torches so I'm likely no special case. But maybe if I help you succeed, I'll be able to give you some reason to remember my existence. Even if it's a small one."

Although the Flame Haze didn't show much of a reaction, Keisaku was sure his words had an effect on her.

"Well.. I guess I can't say no to that then." She forced a smile. After retrieving Marchosias she tucked the grimoire under her arm and turned back to Keisaku. "Alright then, you can come. Just be sure not to slow me down."

Keisaku gave a determined nod. "I understand."

Margery waited at the bottom of the steps by the door for the mystes to get ready. Because of her cleansing flame she did not have to take the excessive time to shower and clean up like he did.

"I can't believe you actually let him help you! You never work with others. Don't tell me he actually got t-"

Margery cut off her contractor with a punch. "That's enough from you… Stupid Marco."


	3. Chapter 3

The azure haired crimson lord watched as one of his strategically placed torches vanished off the crystal altar map. "Tch…" He bit his lip.

"Master…" The orange haired doll looked to him with worry in her beaded eyes.

Friagne gave a loving pat to the doll. "Fear not, my beloved Marianne. Things _will_ go according to plan. Thanks to our run in with the loud mouth Flame Haze the other day, we now know this is Lamies the Corpse Collector's doing." He watched as yet another flame disappeared. The look of disgust returned once again. "Damn… but I though that Flame Haze would have taken him out already. I planned for the enemies to take care of each other."

"But Master… Wouldnt this Flame Haze be after you as well?" Marianne asked.

"Yes, But Lamies was her first target so I would assume she'd go for him first." He explained. "However… Corpse Collector still remains in the city and he's tampering with the torches I've set. Both our nuisances are still alive and well"

"Now what should we do? Will our plan work out still?" She innocently asked her beloved master.

"No need to worry my darling, the chanter will do just as I predicted. The Flame Hazes are brutes, always looking for a fight. Things will go according to plan, worry now. I'll have my Rinne collect us more power of existence for a while longer, in the mean time however; let's focus our attention to another matter while we wait." He smirked.

"What else is there? I'd be happy to help you with it."

"Your support means the world to me Marianne. Now, do you remember the Mystes from yesterday that we failed to capture? Perhaps while we wait for our enemies to take each other out and for the Rinne to gather more power of existence, I'll do a bit of treasure hunting."

"Master if you would… allow me to help take care of the Mystes for you. It's the least I could do after failing last time." She pleaded.

"Oh my Marianne, I'm not upset at all over such a silly thing. You don't need to do anything like that for me my dear." he cooed softly

"But Master, I would really like to do this. It would make me so happy being able to serve you."

"I supposed I can't refuse a kindhearted request like that. We'll just be extra careful out there my beloved, that Flame Haze is still running loose."

* * *

"So… you're familiar with this dull town. Where can I find a large gathering of people?" Margery Daw asked the boy who walked a few paces behind her.

Keisaku casually shrugged. "I don't know… maybe by the train station. And anywhere in the shopping district I suppose. It a bit early in the day for crowds, around 3 and 4 is when places get busy."

The Flame Haze stopped in her tracks. "Well they still have to be on the move, even if it is early in the day. We'll check out those places for starters…."

"Why do you need a large gathering of people… If you don't mind me asking."

"The more people there are, the better chances we'll have of finding torches. Lamies gathers power of existence from torches who's flame's are dwindling." The Chanter of Elegies impassively explained.

"That sounds a lot nicer than the one who takes power of existence from humans who are still alive." Keisaku pointed out.

Margery looked over her shoulder and glared at him. "Yeah, but he's still a Denizen and that means we're going to take him down" She snapped.

The Mystes raised his hands up defensively. "Okay, okay, whatever you say."

Margery Daw turned back around and the pair continued on their search throughout the town.

"Margery-san…" Keisaku said, breaking the silent pause. "You say you want to kill every single Denizen… but what about Marchosias? Isn't he a Crimson Lord?"

Marchosias spoke up "Woah hey now, kid. Don't be giving her any crazy ideas, she'll rip me apart page by page!" .

The blonde Flame Haze smile amusedly. "Somedays I do want to tear apart stupid Marco over here, but more because of the fact that he can be a pain in my ass. Crimson Lords like him are different. The ones who contract themselves to Flame Haze's obviously don't live in the Crimson World. Not to mention they don't need any power of existence unless they were to manifest themselves. Basically they are on our side. In fact other Crimson Lord's who do consume Power of Existance even call them_ 'Same Race Killers'_"

"There really is a lot of depth to all this…" He sighed. "You're pounding more information in my head than school does."

"Well it is a completely different world than ours. It takes some getting used to if you've been familiar with this world your entire life."

"Crazy to think that an entire world has been right next to me my entire life. And I'm one of the few who actually got to learn about it." Keisaku rested both hands on the back of his neck and looked upwards "It sounds like a lot of fun though… being a Flame Haze I mean. Traveling to and from a world most people don't know about. That would be a real adventure…"

Margery Daw looked over her shoulder once again. "Keisaku, this isn't funny business. It's kind of an important role to keep the balance between worlds."

"I know that… still, I think it would be nice to live for such a cause. It gives an otherwise dull life meaning to it."

"A lonely rich kid looking for a purpose in life… how cliche." She smirked.

"More like I would be looking if I still was alive." he added bitterly. "Not only do you Flame Haze's have purpose, but you're still humans."

"I wouldn't… say we're human." Margery trailed off.

Keisaku tilted his head. "You still seem human to me, just human with supernatural abilities."

"We all used to be normal humans before contracting. We may still seem like humans, but as you know things aren't always as they seem in the Crimson World."

"What would you call yourselves then? I mean you are still true existences unlike torches, and you're definitely not monsters like the Denizens..."

"Just tools." She responded without hesitation. "Tools for destruction. We fight for the mission.. and we fight until we can't anymore. That's all there is to it."

There wasn't a hint of pity or resentment of that title in her voice. She just called her self a 'thing' simillar to himself. And yet she carried on as if all was fine with her.

'I'm just an empty torch waiting to burn out and She's just a tool made to fight an endless battle. Why can't there be more to us than that? There has to be...' He thought to himself. Words like that would come across as naive to the Flame Haze so he wouldn't waste his breath on them.

"Something's coming, we need to cast a seal" Margery said urgently.

"Huh?" The Mystes gave his attention back to the Flame Haze. "What do you mean by-"

She cut him off by casting her Fuzetsu spell, suddenly the area around them was covered in that familiar crimson color. The few people that were around them froze. It was happening again

"Margery… why did you-" Once again the boy was cut off when something slashed the air right in front of him. The Chanter shoved him back a few feet, allowing whatever it was to barely miss him.

"Looks like we got company, get ready for a throw down my lethal warrior, Margery Daw!" Marchosias shouted eagerly.

"To think they would come right to us! A cocky move like this… it's gotta be that bastard Friagne." Margery giggled in delight.

Keisaku took a step back and looked upward. Above the two of them hovered a blue haired man in a white tuxedo with a red and orange doll resting on his shoulder. A white ribbon like scarf coil the air around him. The man looked down on them and smiled degradingly. Keisaku deducted this Denizen was the one was called Friagne. Which meant Keisaku was looking eye to eye with the very person who look his life.

"Well this is an unfortunate turn of events. I wasn't expecting the Mystes we were hunting to be accompanied by a Flame Haze." He shook his head in disappointment. "And it's the 'needless violence' Flame Haze no less. Oh who am I kidding, all you tools know is needless violence."

"The violence is quite necessary when dealing with scum like you." Margery bit her lip. "I hope you're ready to get your ass kicked."

"We're gonna tear you to shreds you doll freak!" Marchosias added.

The Crimson Lord gave a small, disapproving, head shake. "As a Flame Haze Hunter I'm far too familiar with how a situation like this will play out. And I'm not willing to risk that precious Mystes' treasure over your impulsive nature. I wish to claim what's inside of him, not have him destroyed." He glance and Keisaku and smirked.

"Risk my… life?" Keisaku echoed his words in confusion. _'If anything, isn't this Crimson Denizen guy more of a threat to me? Why is he talking as if Margery would hurt me?'_ He wondered.

Friagne must have read his confused look fairly well, as he kept going. "Oh you don't realize yet? If the container for your treasure tool… aka, your body, is destroyed prematurely then the treasure tool will be randomly transported somewhere else in the world and inside another Mystes. If I were to come close to taking that treasure inside of you they'd destroy you without a second thought to make sure I don't have my way. The Flame Hazes don't see you torches as anything but mere objects. Shame, but I suppose that is what you are after all."

"That's enough out of you. Stop your stupid talk and fight me properly!" Margery shouted. Ultramarine blue flames bursted out of her palm in his direction but was blocked by an invisible barrier around him right before reaching him.

"Don't tell me you've forgotten about my treasure tool Azure already." He mockingly held up his left hand to display the silver ring over his white glove" It nulifies the effects of flames, we had this chat last time."

"Damn it…" She bit her lip, she had gotten carried away again.

"Don't give up now, we still have our unrestricted spells my gifted little caster Margery Daw!" Marchosias said, trying to keep her fighting spirits up.

"Unfortunately, I have no more time to waste on a tool like you. I don't wish to ruin my chances at that Mystes' prize so early in the game. And I refuse to waste any power of existance fighting you while I have more important plans ahead of me. Let's play another time, shall me?" He smiled as his body became engulfed in his signature white flame.

"Don't run away from a fight you bastard!" She shouted attempting another shot at him with her flame. The Crimson Lord disappeared out of their sight before her attacks had a chance at reaching him. "Damn it all…!" she knelt down and smashed her fist on the ground. "Why does he keep running away? He's a Flame Haze hunter isn't he? What could be so important to him that he's refusing to fight me for it? Ugh... I need a drink! I'm going to drink myself stupid until I forget all about this!"

"Uhm… Margery-san…" Keisaku called to her with concern.

"...It's fine, I'm fine..." She stood up and collected herself before releasing the seal. The streets and people returned back to normal and began moving about once again. "I'll just forget that bastard Friagne. It'll only piss me off more...time to focus on Lamies. I'll set some unrestricted methods around the city and to track him down." She said more to herself than Keisaku. "Anyways, you ready to go kid?"

* * *

"Is what that Denizen said true." Keisaku irrelevantly asked later that night at the Satou residence. His tone was unusually low and serious.

Margery already began her boozing to ammend for the day's failures. She turned to face him with her glass still in he hand "Huh, what are you talking about?"

"Flame Hazes don't think torches are anything but things… and that if he were to come close to taking my treasure tool would you…"

"I explained to you yesterday what torches are. They're empty shells, residue, replacements; not people. It's not that we Flame Hazes view them in a negative light… we just see them as what they are. You aren't a person anymore and you're going to have to accept that fact." she stated.

"Right…" He glanced to the side and frowned, clearly unhappy with her answer. "And since I'm not a person you would destroy me without hesitation if that Denizen tried to steal what's inside me...?"

"Do you want it to fall into his hands? Depending on what it is, it could be deadly if in the wrong hands."

He narrowed his eyes slightly. "You knew that the Crimson Lord would come after me because I was a Mystes. Because his Rinne hunted me once before. That's why you kept me by your side isn't it? To lure out Friagne."

"Yupp and he took the bait." She admitted without remorse. "While it's true that is my orignal reason for wanting to keep a close eye on you. After all if you were just another torch I'd have no use for you. But was it not you who ask to stay by my side and help me capture Friagne this morning?"

"..."

"Perhaps I wasn't being completely open with you about how I would use you, but at the end of the day it's still what you asked for."

"Sure, whatever you say." He shoved his hands in his pockets.

_'I shouldn't care… I shouldn't expect anyone to treat me like I'm human, after I'm just a thing. This is my last chance to prove my existence meant something…. I can't me throwing myself a pity party now of all times.'_

"You okay over there?" Margery tilted her head in slight concern. Perhaps she was being too blunt with the boy.

Keisaku shook his head to snap himself out of it. "It's nothing, nothing at all. I was thinking that it was a good idea to lure him out like that. I don't mind being baited... it's not like there's much else I can do." He tried to speak as nonchalantly as possible

The Chanter of Elegies interest rose at his response as did her contractor.

"That kid's pretty much okay with anything isn't he?" Marchosias laughed. "Why can't we find Torches this cooperative in other towns!"

"You're being a bit too accepting. Don't you think?" She asked. "I'm sure you've put two and two together by now, but that is the Crimson Lord that killed you. Aren't you even a little worried?"

"I'm just a torch though, right? It's not like you or I have to worry about my life." he deadpanned.

Margery blinked at his response, taking a second before crossing her arms and smirking. "Hmph, you know kid… act tough all you want, but throwing yourself away like that isn't going to prove anything to anyone."

The Mystes serious face dropped in surprise, he didn't expect the Flame Haze to see through him so easily. "W-wait, I didn't mean-" he fumbled, trying to redeem himself.

"But I will take you up on your offer." Her smile grew. "Of course, if I did that you'd have my word that I wouldn't let you get hurt. After all, you're under no obligations to help me, it would be silly to sacrifice yourself."

"Margery…" He looked down and smiled nervously. "Thank you."

"But why are we still talking about Friagne! We're here to drink until he's not even a thought in out minds" She declared, picking back up to mood between them. She quickly finished off her glass and began pouring another.

_'So she really didn't learn her lesson from this morning's hangover.'_ Keisaku sweat dropped._ 'I suppose my last few days here will be interesting… to say the least. Well if I'm going to be kept up late again I guess I'll get some coffee to help me live through it.' _

"Just Try not to over do it again. I'll be right back" He warned her, fairly certain that his words would do no good anyways.

Margery watched as the Mystes heading down the hallway leading to the kitchen. Specifically at his flame. Quite a bit of power of existance had been used up to day. The time with this Mystes was incredibly limited. _'I'd say only 3 or 4 more days at the very most...' _She thought to herself.

The chanter lost her thoughts about the Mystes when a strong yet familliar feeling pulsed through the atmosphere. It was incredibly powerfully, despite being slightly inebriated Margery's mind was left competley alert and in focus after feeling it.

"Do you feel that?" Marchosias asked.

"Of course I do... who could miss it?" Margery sighed. "It's another Flame Haze... and whoever they are, they're incredibly powerful..."

* * *

She stood atop the pillar of Misaki bridge, a small little girl looking down at the large town in discust. A strand of black hair was tucked behing her ear as she frowned.

"So we finally reach Misaki..." She said, "and just look at the mess."

"Yes, I'm picking up a few differnt presances in this city." A deep voice responded from the glittering pendant on her chest. "But what really concerns me is the amount of torches in this city."

"I was thinking the same thing." The young girl nodded. "Good thing we happened to be passing through here, huh Alastor? I think things are going to be surprisingly interesting."

* * *

**In my personal opinion... the first arc with Friagne and Lamies is the most boring arc in the original series... Especially Friagne, he's one of my least favorite characters. I'll be really happy when I get to move past this arc, as it really is my least favorite. Anyways please reveiw because I'd love to know what you're all thinking so far! And if you have any suggestions or ideas I'd love to hear them too! **

**Until next time-**


	4. Battle of the Flame Haze

**(please read really quick) OKAY so this is awkward, uhm how do I put this.. I havent updated in so long... I kinda forgot my orignal direction with the story? So to get back on track I made one small change! Shana does not appear in the story until the point where Margery appears in the anime. (so the the end of last chapter.) It's not really worth rereading cuz the story has stayed the same except I just got rid of the Shana parts in the first 3 chapters. Ch.3 has the most changes cuz there was alot of Shana in before I edited her out. plus I added a small part at the end of chapter 3. So if anything just reread the end of chapter 3 maybe? **

**I feel kinda bad but at the same time I wholehearted believe the direction the story will go in with Shana's new appearance is going to be better. (I would not have gone through all this trouble if I thought it wasn't worth it.) Anyways sorry for the 6 month late update! Please enjoy! **

* * *

Keisaku couldn't remember last night too well. He figured around one in the morning Margery finally crashed. He remembering covering her up on the couch again and heading to his own room after for some needed rest.

So _what_ in the world was she doing in his room?

He woke up in his own bed to find the Flame Haze lying next to him while clutching an empty bottle in her hand. She was still asleep, her mouth was gapped open as she snored lightly.

Keisaku shot upwards and scurried to the edge of the bed. "Margey, what the hell!?" He shouted. His face was heating up. She _did_ pass out in the living room last night, didn't she?

As the chanter's eyes twitched a bit Marchosias began laughing. He was rested on the nightstand next to the bed.

"Looks like my drunked sleep walker Margery Daw has gotten herself into trouble." He said.

Margery slowly sat up, and rubbed her head. "Ugh, why are you yelling so early in the morning. I already have a headache from my hangover." She groaned.

"Well what are you doing in my room! On my bed no less!"

"Your room?" Margery looked around in confusion. "Yeah, I guess I am in your room." She said casually.

"Don't play this of so casually! What are you doing in here?" He said raising his voice again.

"How should I know! I can't even remember most of what happened last night. Anyways stop yelling. What time is it?"

"...about 9 am." He said with a frown. It seemed she wasn't going to acknowledge this situation for how weird it was.

"Ugh so too early to be awake." She sighed and stretched her arms upwards "Unfortunately… there's something I need to take care of, so I should probably get moving."

"You? getting up early and being productive? Now I think I've seen it all!" Marchosias said in disbelief. Margery just shot him a glare.

"I don't get it… you said there was nothing more we could do last night." Keisaku grumbled after remembering yesterday's failures.

"Well that's because the problem only came up just this past night." She said as she attempted to stand up on her feet. "It's not exactly a problem either. Well, at least not yet."

"Heh?" The mystes tilted his head.

"Just nevermind…" She shook her head, not exactly feeling motivated enough to explain. Margery took another glance at Keisaku, taking a good look at him for the first time since waking up. "That's weird…"

"Huh? What is?" he blinked.

"Your flame. I swore after that encounter with Friagne yesterday afternoon you power of existence dwindled a bit… Even though it wasn't much of a fight, it's expected for a torch like your's power to be used up easily after something like that…." She trailed off. "Maybe it's just me but it seems like you have more power of existence than you did last night."

"Y-you think?" Keisaku looked down at the light blue flame in his chest. "How can you tell? I can't really see a difference…"

"I don't see why it matters anyways." It was Marchosias who interrupted. "It's impossible for a torch to regain power of existence it's used up, so don't get the poor kid's hopes up about something that can't happen. Besides I wouldn't exactly say your judgement is one hundred percent with that hang over of yours, ahah-"

Margery quickly slammed the fist on the book. "You're the one who refuses to use the purification flame on me!"

"And you're the one who chose to drink herself stupid last night!"

She couldn't argue with that one. She simply huffed and threw the book's strap over her shoulder. "ANYWAYS… I'm heading out."

"I-I'm coming to then!" Keisaku declared, running to follow her.

Margery turned around and flicked the boy on his forehead. "No you're not."

"What?" He instinctively placed a hand over his forehead and and gave the flame haze a slight glare. "But you said I could yesterday!"

"Yeah well… that was yesterday. This is today. I need to take care of a more personal matter right now. It has nothing to do with Denizens."

"Are you even going to tell me what it is?"

"Hmmm… maybe later." She said indifferently as she head to the door of the room.

"Hey wait, just let me-"

The Flame Haze turned around and gave him a stern stare that immediately backed down the Mystes. "You. Stay. Here."

* * *

"Now let me guess, we're chasing after that presence we felt last night." The Claws of Fangs of Violation asked his Flame haze who stood on his grimoire. The two were hovering over Misaki City searching for their destination.

"You know it. Another Flame Haze has wandered into this city, and I want them out of my way."

"Are you sure it's okay to leave that Mystes alone like that? I thought we were looking after him… cuz you know. Friagne."

"Ahhh he'll be fine. This shouldn't take long at all. And besides." She smirked. "I don't want another Flame Haze finding out about our special little mystes."

"Oh? And what's got you convinced he's so special?"

Her smirk dropped. "Did you really not notice? His power of existence was clearly less yesterday than it is today."

"You keep saying that… but yet it's impossible for such a thing to happen! There's no way a torch, or even a mystes, can regain it's lost power of existence."

"Well it happened, so how do you explain that?" She argued back irritably. "Honestly, why would I make this up?"

"You sure are paying a lot of attention to the amount of time the kid has left." He teased with a small laugh. "But if you insist it's true then there is a treasure tool out there that can restore power of existence. The one that belongs to the Engaged Link."

"The midnight lost child? Well yeah but like you just said, it already belongs to them. What would it be doing inside THIS mystes?"

"I don't know, did something happen to the eternal lover Johan?"

Margery closed her eyes. "How should I know? Does I look like I keep tabs on the Engaged Link? Like most people I've only ever heard of them because of how famous that treasure tool is."

"Well what do you think now? Do you think that treasure tool ended up in that Mystes we found?"

She bit her lip. "Keisaku Satou being the new owner of the Midnight Lost Child is really a stretch… it's incredibly unlikely if not impossible. But even so… I definitely saw a change in power of existence in him. There's no doubt about that."

_'But if he actually is… Then we could have more trouble than expeted…'_

Margery shook her head. '_No, there's no way he could have such a treasure tool inside of him… And I really don't want to think about all the problems that would come up if he did.'_

Before The flame haze or her crimson lord could say another word on the topic a familiar feeling spread through the air.

"A seal was just cast!" She exclaimed.

"I feel it too, where at?"

Margery pointed at the Eastern end of town where a red dome capture a good part of the city. "There" She said, she was very relieved that it wasn't anywhere near the Satou residence. It would have been the worst of luck if Friagne happened to find him while she was away. "Well… It's safe to say it's probably not Friagne's seal… which means it belongs to our new visitor. The other Flame Haze."

"They sure made it easy for us to find them."

The chanter of elegies scowled. "This is going to be a problem. I was originally going to make sure they were only passing through. But if they're casting seals here then that means they're likely to be hunting in this city." Her territorial nature was kicking in, the denizens in Misaki City were her prey alone to kill as long as she was staying her. While Lamies was her original target, she happened to be lucky enough to run into a crimson lord like Friagne. She had no intention of letting another Flame Haze get the satisfaction of executing them. She clashed her heel against the grimoire's cover. "Marchosias, Let's go!"

* * *

One swing was all it took, just one swing of her Katana blade and the lowly Rinne dispersed into a mess of pale white flames. The Flame Haze stood over the white flames, her flaming hair swaying to the side.

"Alastor" She spoke firmly. "So what Denizen do these pathetic Rinne serve. We've encounter 2 already, both easy kills."

"The Rinne we have encountered have been fairly weak, though I wouldn't assume the same thing about their master." The Flame of Heaven's deep voice spoke through the girl's pendant. "There is such an extremely large number of torches in the city… I'd say they're extremely good at what they're doing."

"You have a point there. But just why are there so many torches here? It's a good thing we passed through by chance. We've got to do something about this."

"I think it's wise to be careful about hunting that denizen, after all we're technically trespassing. I'm sure you've sense that other Flame Haze as well. Targeting a denizen another Flame Haze is already after could cause serious problems. You should know that encounters between Flame Hazes often don't go ever well."

The blazing eyed girl swung her sword over her shoulder casually. "Well they clearly aren't doing their job… there's no excuse for this many torches in one city. I will fulfil my duty as a Flame Haze and find the denizen behind this and get rid of him myself."

"Yeah? I wouldn't be so sure about that."

"Eh?" The Red Haired Flame Haze looked upwards in the direction of the voice. The Tall Blonde stood at the edge of a three story building rooftop. She gave a smirk before jumping down the the other Flame Haze's level, landing perfectly on her feet.

"Well I'll be damned, if it isn't the Flaming Haired Blazing Eyed Hunter" She trailed off

"Long time no see, Huh Flame of Heaven?" Marchosias voice teased.

"Alastor?" The Blazing Eyed Hunter looked down at her partner for an explanation.

"The Claws and Fangs of Violation Marchosias." He explained to her. "And since that is his contractor, She must be the Chanter of Elegies Margery Daw. This isn't good."

"What a cute little Flame Haze you have there Flame of Heaven." Marchosias said. "Shame she doesn't know how to stay out of another Flame Haze's territory."

Margery smiled amusedly "Ahhh since you're just a little one I'll let this slide. Leave this city like a good little girl and we won't have any trouble." It was clear the Chanter of Elegies true intention was provoking the other Flame Haze rather than just simply asking her to leave.

"It's probably best we move past this city" Alastor advised his partner whose growing anger he easily picked up. "These two are ready for a fight at any given moment… not a pair you want to anger."

The Flame Haze ignored her contractors words and pointed her sword at the chanter. "I don't think you are capable of taking down the Denizen in this city. After all you've already let so many torches appear!"

"Huh? These torches were here when I showed up in the city just a few days ago. I originally came chasing the corpse collector but while I'm here I'm taking down Friagne too!"

"Corpse Collector? You don't mean Lamies?" Alastor gasped. "Lamies has done nothing to disrupt the balance of this world. Why would you chose to hunt a denizen who's done now harm?"

The blonde furrowed her brow, "Did you say a denizen who's done no harm? Hmph! There's no such things as a denizen who's done no harm! I'm going to kill every single one of them and he's no exception! ... But hey if you have a problem why don't we settle this already?"

"They have no intention of talking about this. Your only option is to leave quietly or fight." The Flame of Heaven warned.

His Flame Haze already had made up her mind though.

"Alastor. I said I would settle each situation I come by on a case by case basis… and I'll do just that. Even though she's a Flame Haze like me I won't let that cloud my judgement. I actually find this woman unworthy of the Flame Haze title. She is clearly more focused on her hatred than the mission. I'll get rid of her, take down this Denizen and ensure Lamies protection all at once." She looked straight ahead, determination burning in her blazing eyes. "I believe that's the right choice."

"Hah, about time!" Margery smirked. "Let's settle this once and for all."

Just moments before the impending battle she had been waiting for, the chanter absentmindedly thought back to the Mystes she had left behind earlier that morning.

_'This might take longer than I thought… but we will make it back to him soon'_

* * *

The young Mystes was left alone in his spacious home, starting off his day with a ramen cup due to his limited cooking skills. His phone's vibrator when off 'Tanaka' was what the screen read. Without a second thought he sent the call to voicemail. It was expected for his friends to be slightly worried. He had yet to contact anyone yet and had not shown up to school (though the second part wasn't exactly uncommon for him) Nonetheless he let a lonely sigh escape him.

He began to wonder about the Flame Haze he had been staying with to distract him from thoughts of his friends. "Where could Margery be? And why couldn't she bring me along?" he asked out loud.

At the very least she wasn't going after any Denizens. He had only been able to give her general ideas of where to find Corpse Collector and act as a bait to lure out Friagne. All it had lead to was one encounter Friagne that couldn't even be called a fight. And then Lamies was practically disappearing off the map when Margery tried to chase him down.

Perhaps he wasn't so useful after all. He wouldn't even be surprised she and Marchosias were only humoring him.

Even so, he couldn't back out now. The moment he learned there was someone who would remember he existed, he knew he had to do everything in his power to make himself worth being remembered.

* * *

"Hyah!" The young girls battle cry echoes as the Nietono no Shana swung- slicing right through the shoulder of the beast. Margery Daw had already engulfed herself in the flames of the toga and fought in her wolf-like form. She quickly pivoted around and used her momentum to attempt another, and hopefully finishing strike to the beast. Margery was able dodge the second time around.

"She's not bad." Margery admitted to her partner as the currently severed left arm of the beast respawned. "That sword of hers looks especially dangerous."

"She definitely knows how to move in battle too." Marchosias agreed. "Nothing less of the Flame of Heaven's Flame Haze though, right?"

"We'll just have to step up our game then." The Chanter's eyes narrowed in determination.

"What is that thing?" The red haired Flame Haze asked when she stopped to catch her breath.

"It's literally a cloak of flames making up the beast." Alastor explained. "An unrestricted method those two have mastered. Please be on your guard."

"Yeah I get that, but I didn't expect this battle to be this serious!" She yelled while moving quickly to evade a wave of blue flames the beast shot from its mouth. Once she had complete balance on her feet again she pointed her sword at the pair. "Listen… I'm not too excited about fighting another Flame Haze when I could be fighting a Crimson Lord instead."

"Your point?" Margery asked.

"Lamies is known for collecting power of existence in a way that won't disrupt the balance. Even more so, destroying him would release all the power of existence he's gathered so far!"

"Like that matters! He's still a Denizen so he can't be kept alive!" She yelled back while lunging forward in attempt to swipe one of the massive claws at the girl.

The girl jumped backwards and faced Margery and Marchosias once again, still trying to talk to the other Flame Haze. _'What's with her fixation on fighting? I don't think I've seen such a Flame Haze that carried so much anger or hatred before.'_

_'That's just who those two are. Like I said there's no point in reasoning with them'_ Alastor answered her thoughts back.

"I don't understand how someone could have strayed so far from the original mission and still have the audacity to call themselves a Flame Haze."

Margery bit her lip at the flame haze's insults._ 'What's with this girl? She's annoying… talking about the mission the way she does. I don't really have the time to waste on her anyways'_

"I told you this already if you have a problem come at us. I don't have time to waste on your lectures." She retorted.

The younger girl gave off a small huff before jumping in the air, raising her sword with both hands above her head. "You asked for it!" She swung down her sword, as it sliced the air in front of her a flurry of crimson flames erupted towards her opponents.

Margery took the damage head on from the flames raining down on them. The Blazing eyed hunter came dashing in through the red hot flames with her sword raised.

"Margery!" Marchosias warned his contractor, though not quick enough.

The Nietono no Shana pierced right through the center of the monster, releasing a storm of cobalt blue sparks. "Gotcha…" she smirked victoriously, though when the flames cleared away the Chanter of Elegies was nowhere in site. "Huh… how?" She looked around frantically for her opponent.

"I suppose you at least live up to the Flaming Haired Blazing Eyed Hunters name…." The blonde flame hazes voice called. The fiery Flame Haze look upward in the direction of the voice. The Chanter of Elegies stood balanced on the nearest street lamp glaring at the other. The Grimoire now in her wands was opened to one of the middle pages. The characters written on the pages were illuminated in a light blue light. "...But you're really annoying, you know that?"

"Same could be said about you!" She got into an attack stance on point with the last word of her statement, crimson flames began to swirl around the swords blade furiously.

"Hmph…" Margery frowned. 'let's finish them…'

_Raining in the sunshine_  
_A trister at play_

"They're preparing for another attack!" Alastor's voice called to his Flame Haze.

"Not if I have a say in it!" She responded jumping in the air once again, the the crimson flames whirlwinding around her blade thicken.

_In the next three seconds_  
_You're going to be washed away._

Flames encircling the chanter turned into a dark cloud above, just as the hunter swung down her sword. And as the Crimson storm engulfed Margery Daw, Ultramarine flames pelted down on her opponent sending her small form crashing to the ground.

* * *

"Hmmm…." Friagne the hunter stared out the window of the the abandon shopping centers roof. "So it appears we have another pest that wandered into town…"

"And they've already destroyed two of your rinne Master…" Marianne said worriedly.

"That seal had a crimson flame… which means the Flame of Heaven and his contractor have shown up into town… Though I'm not surprised it turned out to be them considering how massive that presence was that we felt last night." He trailed off.

"Will the Flame of Heaven be a threat to our plan?"

"It's a strong possibility knowing him… If anything he might try to get the Chanter of Elegies to stop pursuing Lamies. And the only real use I had for that Flame Haze was the fact that she was attempting to get rid of him. And there is a good guarantee that we'll have two Flame Hazes hunting us after that."

"Master…" Marianne looked at him with worry in her beady eyes. Friagne gave her a light pat to the back of her head.

"We're not backing down after we've come so far. Instead of waiting like we were before though… it looks like we'll have to move things ahead of plan. We should start preparations right away before either of the three can make a move." He turned away from the window and carried the doll with him back to the Crystal Altar. "Looks like we don't have time for that Mystes though. I'm sure the treasure wasn't anything special anyways."


	5. Unlikely Encounters

"Man I just have the worst luck…" The school boy sighed as he bent down to pick up another paper. He took a few more steps into the alley way and looked back in forth on the ground. "I think I got them all though… I guess if there's anymore I'm missing the wind blew them to where I can't find them."

Without spotting any more of his scattered school papers, he decided to call it good enough.

"Well… I guess I'll head back now-"

In that moment something caught the boy's eye. There was a gap between the walls ahead in the alley way. And while it was a fairly abandoned alley way, he swore he had just caught glance of a person. Without thinking he took a closer look.

She sat curled up with her head leaning against the wall. Completely unconscious. She was a very small girl with long raven hair. The glittering red pendant was the first thing to catch his eye, standing out more compared to the rest of her outfit. She wore a black track suit that was completely tattered up with rips along the arms and legs. To complement her clothing damage she had a few scuffs on her face and bare hands.

The sight made the school boy's chest tighten with concern. "What happened to her?"

The girl, was small, pale, and fragile looking. Seeing this stranger battered in such a way worried him greatly.

He immediately bent down to her level and gently placed both hands on her shoulders. "Hey… please wake up.. Are you okay?" he shook her ever so lightly.

"Nnnggh…." She whined lightly and her eyelids twitched.

_'She's waking up!'_ He allowed himself to smile a bit.

The girl slowly opened her brown eyes in a daze.

"Hmmm…?" she hummed. Through blurry at first her vision finally cleared up and she was able to focus in a person in front of her. A boy with dark brown hair and blue eyes smiled.

"Are you oka-WAHH!" Before he could ask the girl about her condition the tables completely turned on him.

She move quickly despite her injuries, and boy was she strong. In less than a second the boy found himself lying on his back with the small girl he just tried reaching out to standing over him. She no longer looked like the frail girl he tried to save moments ago. She had an empowering aura around her as she looking down on him with a frown.

"Who do you think you are? Laying your hands on me!" She glared.

_'What just happened here?'_ He blinked. How does a little girl like that posses that much strength to begin with he wondered. And she was able to take him down so quickly despite her injured condition.

"S-sorry! I saw you were in trouble and I was just trying to h-help!" He quickly defended.

She didn't respond and continued to frown down at him.

"Well Alastor? Does he speak the truth?" She said.

_'Alastor?'_

A deep voiced echo through the air. "I sensed genuine concern when the boy approached you. This human is nothing to getting worked up about."

Wherever the mysterious voice was coming from, the girl seemed to be listening to it as she took a few steps back from him. He sat up cautiously when she was a reasonable distance away.

After a few more moments of into her staredown the damage of her injuries must have finally gotten to her. She gripped her shoulder and fell onto her knees. "Damn it..." she whispered harshly.

"You shouldn't have gotten so riled up back there. You're still in bad shape from that fight." The deep voice told her again.

"I know that…"

"Hey you're still hurt!" The boy slid closer the the collapsed girl. "Please, let me help you. You're not looking so good."

She lifted up her head to shoot him a defensive glare, to which the boy returned with a welcoming smile.

"By the way… My name's Yuji Sakai."

* * *

"You tell me there was nothing to worry about. You tell me not to come with you. And then you stumble in all beaten up. I'm pretty upset now, you know." Keisaku scolded. Nonetheless he continued wrapping the white bandages around the Flame Haze's arm.

"Well things took an unexpected turn." She retorted, surprised to find herself actually being lectured by the Mystes of all people. "Besides, it's still better you weren't there."

"So let me guess… you ran into a denizen?"

"I wish… But it was a Flame Haze actually." Margery sighed.

"Well that's stupid. Why would you fight a Flame Haze?"

The Chanter's eye twitched in annoyance. "Like you would understand!" She said defensively. "Clashes between Flame Haze's aren't that uncommon I'll have you know!"

"Yeah! Especially when you're with this grump! She doesn't know how to get along with anyone!" Marchosias tried to chime in again but as usual received a smack by his Flame Haze's first.

"Shut up stupid Marco!"

The gremior let out a few more laughs. "Well this time the brat was asking for it. Sticking her nose in another Flame Haze's territory isn't exactly a bright idea. We got her pretty good but as you can tell she left us in pretty bad shape too. Hopefully she'll leave quietly instead of trying for another fight."

"I wouldn't be so surprised if she confronts us again." Margery trailed of. "There was something about her attitude that was weird. She's not like most Flame Hazes I've seen. She takes a bit too much pride in her mission and doesn't seem to care for much else. It's almost as if she doesn't have any hatred for Denizens.'

"As if what?" Keisaku asked as he tied off the end of the bandage wrap.

"Nothing…" She sighed. "It's not like the brats motivations are of any interest to me really. It just seems like we'll have to get to both Friagne and Lamies before her. If I can get to my two targets before her without interruption, I'll gladly fight her again afterwards.

"You're pretty dedicated… to your fights with the denizens I mean."

Margery crossed both her legs and arms. "Well I did vow to destroy every single one… Speaking of Denizens, Friagne been on my mind. He's been pretty quiet today considering there are now two Flame Haze's in the city. And he's left you alone. It's too out of character for that cocky bastard."

"Hmmm…." Keisaku tilted his head back and forth awkwardly. He didn't have anything to add but he still wanted to be of use. "If you're worried we could go out and-"

_'Bzzt…'_

The doorbell buzzed, causing Keisaku's stomach to drop.

"What was that?" Margery turned to him.

"The doorbell." Keisaku groaned. He realized it was after school hours right now. And Tanaka did try calling him around lunchtime today…

"I'm sure it's just some friends from school trying to check up on me. I kinda feel bad that they're going out of there way when I'm technically not even their friend Keisaku Satou anymore." he sighed. "I guess I'll let them know I'm okay so they won't worry about the old me. I suppose it's the least I could do." He stood up reluctantly and when to greet his friends at the door. Margery watched silently as he left the room.

Two familiar faces met Keisaku at the door.

"Satou! There you are!" Matake Ogata cheered. "You haven't shown up to school and Tanaka said you weren't keeping in touch with him. We were pretty worried, huh?" She said, nudging Eita who stood next to her.

"Huh? Y-yeah I guess so." He said awkwardly. Little did Keisaku know, Matake dragged him there herself.

"Ahh well thanks for stopping by…" Keisaku rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'm fine… just uh. Haven't been feeling up to school lately. Long story."

"Oh?" Matake tilted her head.

"Well let's hang out inside for a bit any maybe you could tell us about it" His friend Eita suggested.

"I-I-Inside?" The brown haired boy jumped up a bit.

_'No, no no! I have still Margery here! If they ran into her there's no way I can even begin to explain her. I won't be able to explain Flame Hazes to them so they'll probably just assume the worst... '_

"A-actually… It's kinda messy inside. I'm really glad you guys came all this way out to see me but unfortunately I won't be able to hang out here."

"That's fine!" Matake said enthusiastically. "Cuz the real reason we came over is because of THESE!" She said holding out the stipes of paper in her hand.

"Those…?"

Keisaku looked over to Eita for an explanation but all he did was mouth 'I'm sorry' apologetically to him. He concluded Matake was pulling the strings here.

"So you remember that girl Kazumi I met? The cute girl with the short brown hair? I told her about the situation and how I was worried and she gave me free tickets to the new art gallery. Her dad gave them to her but she says she had no use for them. So I thought we all could go since you've been gone for so long."

"An art gallery?" Keisaku deadpanned. "Oga-chan… What made you think Tanaka or myself would be interested in in something like that."

"That's what I tried to tell-" Eita attempted to agree but was shot an offended glare by Matake.

"Regardless, you've been ignoring us for a while. So whether the gallery is boring or not, the whole point is that we're spending time together."

_'I don't really want to hang out with my friends after find out I'm a torch. I'm not the same person they have known all these years and they'll forget me in just a few days… besides, I can't just leave her without warning.'_

"Well thanks for coming by but I'm actually kinda of busy today and won't be able to come this time. I'm sure that gallery will still be on display for a while. Let's go in a few days." The mystes said.

"You're busy? With what?" It was Eita who asked.

"Well uhm…" He scratched his cheek awkwardly. "You see it's a long story but a lot has been going on these past few days and I just-"

"Now you're being suspicious." Matake frowned. She grabbed Keisaku by the lower arm and pulled him out the door. "You're for sure coming with us now Satou. I need to make sure you aren't getting into trouble again."

"But Oga-chan!" He protested as she started dragging him.

"We're going so don't throw a fit. You're coming too Tanaka!"

Keisaku wound up on the Misaki streets with his two childhood friends. And on the way to an art gallery he couldn't be less thrilled to go to. We did worry about what a certain blonde flame haze would do now that they were separated, but little did he know they weren't so far apart.

Margery trailed from above with an amused smile.

"So they Mystes friends are dragging him around town. How cute."

"You sure this is okay? I thought we were trying to keep a close eye on him because of Friagne?" Marchosias asked,

"Of course this is fine! We are looking after him right now aren't we? We're close enough to watch him but far enough apart to make Friagne believe we;re not with him. It's a pretty ideal situation if you look on the bright side."

"And the other Flame Haze?"

"She shouldn't come after us so soon after a fight. Though I do wonder what the she is up to right now…"

* * *

"Oh my goodness, what's happened here?" Chigusa Sakai gasped at the sight of the bruised up Flame Haze who stood next to her son. "Is she your friend Yu-chan?"

The small black haired girl stood with a blank expression. She couldn't believe she actually let this human bring her here. However, she was in a time of need.

Yuji scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "Eheheh… well, she's something like that."

* * *

** What I like most about the changes made is I get to have a more personal Shana/Yuji relationship now. I really look forward to writing for both them and Keisaku/Margery. But hey I won't be doing much updating this november as NaNoWriMo is this month and I'll be spending a lot of my time doing that. (That's why I did a double update) If I get a chance to fit in another update this month then awesome! But likely I won't be back til December.**


	6. The Hunter's Plan

Chigusa Sakai returned to the living room with the first aid kit in hand. Her son and the bruised up flame haze were there waiting, she set the kit on the coffee table and immediately rifled through it. Like her son she also was concerned for this young girl whom she had just met.

"So Yu-chan?" She asked. "Why don't you introduce me to your friend and tell me what happened?"

"Yu-chan…" The flame haze mumbled the boy's nickname causing Yuji to blush in embarrassment.

"Uh-uhm, introduce you said?" He forced himself back on topic then realize he didn't even know the girls name. He turned to the flame haze with a awkward smile in hopes she would pick up his hint. "Errr, Why don't you tell her you name?"

"I don't have a name." She said without hesitation. "So call me whatever you feel like if you need to address me."

"No name?" Chigusa looked up at the strange girl's response.

This was going more awkwardly than Yuji Sakai expected.

"Ah-! She's just shy is all!" He blurted. "A-actually mom… I can take it from here! Thank you though." He forced a laugh and slid the kit towards himself.

"Oh, right. If your friend is shy around others I can see why she might prefer it if you handle this." Chigasa said in complete acceptance; Yuji was relieved. "I know, how about I make you guys some tea?"

"That would be great. Thanks mom." her son smiled. Chigusa left for the kitchen leaving the pair alone. Yuji sighed and looked over at the girl who was unapologetic of the situation she put him in. "So… was there some reason why you wouldn't tell her your name?" He asked as she peeled back a seal on a package of bandages.

"Weren't you listening? I said I didn't have a name." She replied in complete deadpan.

"You were serious?" His blue eyes widened. "How do you not have a name?"

"Because I was never given one, and I don't need one. Stop acting like it's something to pitying me over."

"But what about school? What do your friends call you?"

"I don't attend a school nor do I have friends. Now are you going to help me here or what? She said gesturing to the bandage roll still sitting in his hands. "You're the one who insisted I come here with you. I don't really have time to be wasting right now."

"Oh, r-right! I'm sorry." He said as he clumsily began unrolling the white wrap. The Flame Haze took of her track jacket and he started with her arms.

_'So small…'_ He thought to himself as he wrapped the bandages around her thin arms.

While he was busy tending to the girl she glanced at his chest in search of a possible light blue flame, but luckily for the boy, one did not appear.

_'Well he's not a torch, and neither was his mother. That's good for them at least. Even so I can't believe the number of torches in this city. Everything's all out of joint here. I get the feeling Alastor and I will be here for a while, after all the Crimson Lord Friane is here apparently. Then there is the score that needs to be settled with the crazy lady still… I should start making preparations to make our stay more convenient._' She glanced at the boy and looked away again. _'...And I could use assistance investigating this city some more.'_

"Something on your mind?" Yuji asked, noticing how deep in thought she was.

"Yeah, I guess so." She answered honestly yet still vague.

Accept her response as it was, he brought up his own topic. "Hey this might be a weird question, but it's been on my mind since we were back in that alley."

"What..." She was already annoyed with his questioning. The boy has hardly said anything to her that wasn't phrased as a question since they first laid eyes on each other.

"Uhm.. who was Alastor..?" He asked. "It sounded like you were talking to someone by that name back there… and I even heard a voice respond despite no one but us being around.

The young girl didn't respond right away and instead exhaled loudly.

"That is… a very complicated story."

* * *

Margery sat on the rooftop of a building adjacent to the art museum her Mystes of interest was inside of. "Surely there's better things we could be doing than waiting for this Mystes to yield results." Marco insisted.

"No choice, we've hit a wall for both Friagne and Lamies. The only thing we know for sure right now is that Friagne is interested in his treasure tool." She frowned a little and placed her cheek in her palm. "Honestly though, why hasn't Friagne been showing himself? I mean there's two flame haze here now. I thought for sure he'd do something…. anything!"

"For being called the Flame Haze hunter, he isn't living up to the name." Her contractor agreed.

"No kidding." She sighed. "We sure have been seeing a lot of his Rinne though… that's for sure."

"Hmmm…"

"What? You got something in mind?" Margery looked down at her book.

"Well it seems like he's been gathering a lot of power of existence, and he's been extra cautious and avoiding battles with the Flame Haze. He has something planned for sure… and given the number of torches in town, it's got to involve a ton of power existance."

"..." Margery frowned. Marchosias made some good points, but the dots weren't connecting themselves to her quite yet.

_'A lot of torches in a single city... a plan requiring a lot of power of existence… I know I've heard of something like that before.'_

* * *

"I can't believe you let her drag us here." Keisaku whispered to Eita, who was having an equally bored time at the exhibition.

"I know… but she thought it was a really great idea. I didn't have it in me to tell her otherwise." He whispered back.

"Hey guys! Isn't this one pretty?" Ogata turned over her shoulder to look at her two friends, she was pointing at one of the vases that was on display. A light blue and white one with a floral pattern. Both boys forced a smile and played along for their friend.

"Yeah totally."

"For sure."

"I know right?" She smiled. "There's another cool display in the next room, let's head over." She said while flipping through her pamphlet that she received at the door. She began walking to the next hall and the two boys reluctantly followed behind.

As they entered the connecting hallway Keisaku took notice to another trio of students his age they passed by. Like his group, it also consisted of one girl and two boys. However one of the boys seemed to be lagging behind his friends who didn't seem to take notice. There was an empty but lonely look in his eyes. The blue light flickering in his chest was small, like a match flame ready to blow out at the smallest breeze. Another torch like him.

Keisaku felt lucky, although they shared the same fate, he was still able to move around normally and people had no trouble noticing him.

But it wouldn't be much longer...

Meanwhile an older gentleman with a cane walked past Keisaku and he was heading in the opposite direction of the passed torch, his back facing Mystes. Of course the young boy paid no attention to the man randomly passing by and was still fixated on the torch.

At first the older man glanced at Keisaku, but was turned off by the brightness of the flame in him.

'No, not this one.' He thought and kept walking.

He was now approaching the torch Keisaku had his eyes on. It was ready to go any moment, therefore, it was fair game. As he walked past the torched vanished, what was left of his existence drawing itself into the small mass he collected in his open palm. When he closed his palm the existence disappeared out of visible sight.

While Keisaku missed the part where the man collected the torches existence, he was unbelievably shocked to see the other boy disappear right before his eyes. It was the first time he was actually witnessing a torch's disappearance first hand. It was more horrifying to see with his own eyes rather than hear Margery tell him about.

"No way… he's gone…" "Keisaku said to himself, without thinking he ran to the site of the disappearance.

"Uhh… Satou?" Eita questioningly called to his friend who wandered away. Ogata even stopped in her tracks too at his strange behavior.

The mystes looked around back and forth where the torch just was as if he'd find a small trace of the stranger somewhere. He looked over his shoulder at the two friends the torch was with, both continuing through the gallery as they were before.

"So it's true… people really don't notice when they disappear.. That means when I-"

His two friends approached him, both filled with confusion and concern. "What's gotten into you Satou?" Ogata began. "You look like you'd seen a ghost. It's freaking me out…"

"Yeah dude, what's going on?" Eita spoke up as well.

"N-nothing…!" He answered without looking at either. "I'm just… going home now."

"Like hell you are!" The redhead insisted. "Atleast not until you tell us what's going on to make you act all weird."

Keisaku remained unswayed by his friends words, the image of the other two friends leaving behind their friend who vanished into thin air was still fresh in his mind. "Whatever." He said indifferently and began walking away on his own accord.

"Satou…! Satou!" Ogata threatened to chase after him but Eita grabbed her shoulder and silently shook his head.

"I don't know what's wrong with him, but it's clear he's not going to listen to us."

After leaving his friends behind Keisaku frantically tried to escape the building where the memory took place.

_'Margery… I have to find Margery-san. And then we'll find those Denizens.. and then we'll defeat them. I don't know how, but we will. That's right, if I have her then my existence might not be a waste… I need to get back to her, it's all I can count on!'_

The mystes' strange reaction was not going unnoticed by that particular older gentleman. Infact in piqued his interest quite a bit. Keisaku still continued to pay the older man much notice, even as he trailed behind him through the hallways to the lobby.

"So you noticed the torch disappear back there didn't you?" The older man finally spoke up. Keisaku, who was now forced to acknowledge his presence, stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around. "And given the fact that you're a torch as well, you must have been disturbed witnessing your own fate be shown before you like that."

_'Someone else who knows about torches?'_ This time Keisaku turned around to face the man._ 'I didn't know there were people who also knew about the crimson world… Well I suppose it's not impossible for normal people to find out. There is that whole organization of people assisting flame haze's that she talked about.'_ He rationalized with himself.' He inspected the man to see if he was also a torch but the signature blue flame never came into sight. He felt a bit envious that a normal person got to find out about the crimson world while still staying a core existence.

The older man offered a friendly smile but Keisaku kept a blank stare.

"I can't help but wonder how a torch as new as yourself found out about the Crimson world." He said with intrigue. "Could you possibly be acquainted with one of the flame haze's who has wandered into town?" He lifted the brim of his hat and looked at him expectantly.

_'Flame Haze? He knows about them too… well that makes sense if he knows about torches I guess.'_

"Yeah I know a Flame Haze. But just one. I only know about the other because apparently there was a fight." He responded. "Why, what's it to you?"

"Looks like I am in luck then... " He looked away solemnly. "To whatever Flame Haze that may be by your side… I'd like you to pass along a piece of information to them. It's about a dangerous plan taking place in this city as we speak."

"Can't you tell them yourself. I don't see why you need me." Keisaku said indifferently.

The man seem disappointed in his response. "Don't tell me you are one of those torches who have given up on everything. Perhaps you feel since you are going to disappear and be forgotten, you don't have to care about the fate of this city and the people in it?"

He bit the corner of his lip in annoyance, while the events unfolding after his disappearance would not affect him, he wasn't so cruel where he would want his friends to be left in danger.

"Of course not!" He defended. "I'll have you know I am working with one of the Flame Hazes to hunt down two denizens that are in this city!"

"Is that so…? And what drives you to work alongside this Flame Haze despite knowing your existence is limited?" He raised an eyebrow. "You probably have something you want to gain from it I'm assuming."

"Well it's because-" He cut himself off, realize why he couldn't finish it out loud.

_'I guess... It's because I was trying to find a reason to be remembered. I'm not doing it for Margery-san or for the people who could be devoured by the Denizens… Ugh the man was right, I really am only doing this for my own sake.'_

Keisaku shook his head, keeping his thoughts inside him. "It's not anyone else's business." He insisted. "Hurry up and tell me this information you want passed on to the Flame Haze if you want me to listen."

The older man gave a half hearted laugh, as if he could see right through the Mystes' words. "Of course of course… you say this Flame Haze is already pursuing two Denizens in this city. This may have to do with one of them."

"Well the ones we're looking for are Friagne or Lamies. So hopefully it has to do with one of them."

"Lamies you say?" He asked, unable to hold back a small laugh.

"Yeah, I think that's his name. Why? Is it about him?" Keisaku asked.

"Not at all, I was just thinking about how life can be so ironic at times." He said, seemingly still amused. Keisaku wasn't catching on and it was probably better that way. "Actually, the problem is with Friagne."

"That guy…huh?'' Keisaku remembered he was the same denizen responsible for him becoming a torch.

"He's planning something called a City Devouring. It will swallow the entire city, everything you've come to know here will be gone, obliterated. He must be stopped at all costs."

"A City Devouring…?" He blinked.

"Yes." The man nodded. "Obviously I am not able to fight Friagne, and I am unable to interact with this specific Flame Haze myself for… complicated reasons you could say. If you could warn her of this plan before it sets into motion, you just may help save the lives of the ones you care about. They won't remember you for this, but even so you will have helped them out in a way only you can."

_'Did he say 'her'? I wonder how he knew that… I don't think I let anything slip out.'_

But the thought passed his mind rather quickly, after all there were much more important piece of information in his words than were worth his attention. "I-I'll pass along your message then, Thank you for the information." He nodded.

The older man nodded back and watched the boy take off towards the exit.

"It seems I got off pretty lucky this time… considering he is working alongside the Chanter of Elegies." He smirked. "Let's just hope the payoff will be worth the risk."

* * *

The Flame Haze thought the boy already asked enough questions before, but now it was out of control...

"So there are really monsters that eat people?"

"Yes."

"And you fight them?"

"Yes."

"And when they devour a person, the person fades away and now one remembers them?"

"Yes."

"And they-"

"Ugh! Shut up Shut up Shut up!" The flame haze cut Yuji off after she wasn't able to take anymore.

They were now walking the bridge over the Mana River, Chigusa suggested Yuji walk the girl home to make sure she was feeling okay. Of course she didn't have anyplace to go, so he took this as an opportunity to speak to her more privately.

The Flame Haze took a bite out of a melon bread bun, she picked up a whole bag full at a stand on the other side of the bridge. The boy was surprised the small girl packed away so many buns already.

"You ask too many questions. Why do you do that?"

"Well… because I do I guess." Yuji scratched his cheek nervously.

"Well, stop. I'm limiting you to only three more questions so use them carefully." She stated. "Anyways, what's with your city… why are there so many torches in it?" She asked.

"I… don't know. I didn't even know what torches were until just now. But it''s probably because of those Denizen monsters right?"

"Well, yeah. The torches don't just appear out of thin air." She rolled her eyes. "Alastor, why would a Denizen need this much power of existence?"

"I have no clue… It must have something in the works." Her contractor replied.

The young boy let out a nervous sigh. "Man, I'm actually really worried about my friends and family now that I know all this. I'm afraid they could be devoured be next…"

She raised her eyebrow in surprise. _'Weird... He didn't say he was worried about himself.'_

"Well, that's why I'm trying to figure out what it's up to so I can stop it in it's tracks. That, and take care of another Flame Haze. She's sure to spread a disaster of her own." She grumbled at the thought of the Chanter of Elegies. "She's going to want to fight us again if we go after Friagne since apparently he's her_ 'prey'_"

Yuji was still fixated on the thought of the Denizen rather than the other flame haze mentioned. "Hmmm… but that's weird this Denizen of yours left so many torches. If it really is more than the average amount wouldn't he try to hide be more discrete? You know, so Flame Haze don't notice? Instead of moving around he's leaving a large number of torches out in one location. If Flame Haze's can sense the distortion, then he's putting a target right over his head."

"Well…" The young Flame Haze hummed and thought about his words. "I guess he's right Alastor. It does seem unusual. Do you think maybe it's a trap to lure Flame Haze here? Friagne is a Flame Haze Hunter after all."

"It doesn't seem to be the case consider the Chanter of Elegies is alive and well. It's actually kinda of strange now that I think of it. She seems to be vigorously pursuing Friagne, and he's a Flame Haze hunter himself. If they were two run into each other, we can assume it would be a fight until one of them won."

Yuji decided to put in his two cents to Alastor's point. "If this other Flame Haze went as far as to fight you to defend her so called _'prey'_, It's safe to assume the Denizen is avoiding the battles in this situation."

"Well then all we can confirm from that point is that Friagne is up to no good… which is exactly where we started…" She sighed. "Maybe if we can figure out what he's planning, we'll be able to act before he does."

"Then what about the torches you keep talking about?" Yuji asked again. "Could they have something to do with his plan? After all, you said there are so many, both new and old alike."

"Torches have nothing to do with this! They're just temporary placeholders for people that were devoured." The Flame Haze snapped. "They don't even contain that much power of existence themselves… so they really aren't that much of use to the Denizens, unless you're someone like Corpse Collector."

"But if there are so many torches, all combined they might make up a lot of existance." Yuji pointed out.

"Even so at the end of the day they're just torches… so they probably has nothing to do with it. Right, Alastor?"

"..."

"Alastor?" The young Flame Haze repeated. "Is something wrong?"

"Actually…" The Flame of Heaven started. "This boy's words reminded me of a certain incident, that's rather similar to the situation of this city."

"Really!?" Both said in unison.

"Yes, though it only happened once, around the time of the great war. It could be something Friagne is trying to replicate." He began explaining in a serious tone. "It was an unrestricted method that used torches that were strategically placed around a city, the end result would be turning an entire city into power of existence. The City Devourer"

* * *

Marianne anxiously watched her master prepare to take flight out of their hide out. Everything was set up and it was now the time to put the plan in motion. Today was the day they both for so long looked forward to.

"Master, are you sure everything will be okay? Won't pushing the plan ahead be troublesome for you?"

The Crimson Lord calmly shook his head. "Unfortunately we are in a 'now or never' situation. Those three have already meddled enough as is. At this point I would have pushed this plan ahead by weeks if I know they were going to show up."

"I don't think the other Denizen will be a problem but..." Marianne timidly began. "There are two Flame Haze now. It will take sometime before the city devouring will be activated... They'll take this as their chance to attack." She voiced her concerns with much worry not only for the plan's outcome but for her Master's safety.

Friagne silently walked over to where the doll Mariane rested, picked her up and held her gently against his cheek. "Don't worry, this is a risk I'm more than willing to take. I already planned on confronting at least one of the Flame Hazes to keep them occupied while we wait for everything to be complete. Based on the cards we were dealt, I'm assuming I'll have to face off with the Chanter of Elegies and the Claws and Fangs of Violation."

"And Flame of Heaven?"

He smiled casually. "Given the tussle between the two Flame Hazes earlier, I doubt we'll have to worry about fighting them. The Flame of Heaven and his Flame Haze likely won't want to assist the Chanter of Elegies if they weren't on good terms. And even if they tried I doubt she's let that happen, considering she was in the city first and would want to take me down herself. Best case scenario they fight against each other again while the plan plays itself out."

"There's really no chance of them teaming up against you?"

"As long as they don't know of our plans, I doubt they'll really care enough to put their pride aside and team up. Both seem like solo workers to me, and since they fought once already…" He shrugged.

He sat Marianne back down and smiled. In his right hand he summoned the treasure tool 'Dance Party', that took the shape of a small silver bell. Both knew this meant the plan was coming into action. After rung a certain amount of times, the bell would connect the torches in town, stringing them all together.

"Soon… you will exist forever. And we will have our Eternal life. Now…" He smirked, and with that he gave the small bell it's first chime.

* * *

Keisaku who expected Margery to be back at the Satou residence started heading in the direction of home. As he rushed around corner off the street of the museum something yanked onto his collar.

"Now what are you in such a hurry for?"

"Margery-san?" Keisaku recognized the voice immediately. When the flame haze release him he stumbled forward a bit but quickly caught himself. "What are you doing here?" He asked when he was able to face her.

"Looking after you of course!" She responded. "I thought maybe Friagne would show if I distance myself from you slightly, but of course... no luck."

"So what's got you in such a hurry kid? We saw you bolt out of that museum double time. Too boring for you to take?" Marchosias asked.

"F-friagne! It's about Friagne actually!" He blurted much to the pair's surprise. "I found out something about him! I… I don't really know what the heck it means, but apparently he's trying to do something called a city devouring and everyone is in danger!"

" A City Devouring?" Margery repeated.

"You're kidding!" Marchosias added. "But you know… that explains the torches and why he's been avoiding us."

"Hey kid…." She quickly grabbed him by the shoulder "Where the hell did you find out about this!?"

"Eh?" Keisaku glanced to the side, slightly embarrassed at the attention. "Well… Actually I met some-"

His words suddenly cut off when a familiar presence was felt in the air. In the distance not too far from them a seal was just cast and covered in a pale white flame.

"Friagne…? Now he shows up?" Marchosias said in response.

Without a word Margery quickly grabbed Keisaku, hopped onto Marchosias' cover and took off right then and there. The sudden take off made Keisaku rather dizzy though.

"Hey Margery-san, why don't you warn me before you do that!" he objected and looked down at the streets below, suddenly feeling nervous.

The Chanter ignored his complaints. "Okay, let's just assume what you said about the city devouring was correct." She said. "That just means we really gotta take down Friagne for good now."

"You better be careful my quick little hunter, Margery Daw." Her partner warned. "If Friagne was planning this that would explain why he's been avoid a fight with us. The fact that he's coming to us all of a sudden, this could be a trap."

"Hmph." Margery smirked. "Like I care! We're still gonna kick his butt before he can get away with anything."

Keisaku smiled in admiration at her confidence, then suddenly realized, "Hey wait so why are you dragging me along?"

"I'm keeping you safe buddy! Even though we're about to confront Friagne, you're probably still safest by my side." She assured him. Once they arrived Margery landed perfectly on the ground in side the seal. However, she carelessly dropped Keisaku who landed stomach first on to the ground which seemed to contradict her previous statement about him being safest with her.

Keisaku complained again. "Hey Margery-san! Can't you be more careful with me!"

However the Chanter of Elegies eyes were already set on her target. She stood a few inches in front of the fallen Mystes, and flipped the Grimoire' pages open in her hands.

Keisaku's eyes followed Margery's gaze up to the Crimson Lord who stood before them hovering above the rooftop's ground. Just seeing the Crimson Lord that destroyed his existence made him feel frustrated. He knew nothing of the Denizen's motive, but it sure as hell couldn't have been worth his life.

_'I guess I really do want to see Margery-san kill this guy after all.'_

"Friagne the hunter, I thought it was about time you came to fight me!" She greeted him with satisfaction. "I've been itching to tear you apart since the moment I got here."

Friagne smiled wryly. "I thought it was about time we settle this. After all your presence has been quite annoying. But I see you were kind enough to bring that Mystes I've been looking for right to me."

"Don't you worry about him, I'm your opponent, and I won't let you lay a finger on him. Though I can't help but be curious of why you've come to face me now of all times. Could there be another reason for this?" She asked; pretending not to know of the city devouring information Keisaku had given her in order to see how he'd respond.

"Just a whim really." He said as he stylishly flicked a strand of his blue hair to the side. "I just needed to pass the time, and what better way to do so than to finish off an one of the most annoying flame haze's I've ever had the displeasure to meet."

_'Well that's an obvious lie.'_ Margery smirked to herself. _'Though I suppose it doesn't matter… The best way to make sure he doesn't complete his plan is to kill the bastard, which is what I planned on anyway.'_

But another strong presence was headed in their direction, interrupting at the duel before it could even begin. Friagne smirked when he felt it but Margery groaned.

"Of course… She's here…" Margery grumbled.

"Who is here?" Keisaku asked, looking around.

On cue, the young flame haze dropped down into the scene. Her hair and eyes were now a blazing red color. She came ready for a fight with the Nietono no Shana already withdrawn.

Margery turned to the other flame haze and shot her an unwelcoming glare "Hey get out of here would you? I've been waiting to take down Friagne for a while now so butt out. And I don't want your assistance either."

"Assistance? You've got it all wrong…" She gripped the hilt with both hands and pointed the blade at Friagne. "I'm taking him down right now not you. It's better if Alastor and I handle this."

"Look, I don't think you understand the situation here and how serious it is!"

"No, I don't think you understand how serious this situation is!"

The pair stared each other down until realization flashed in both their eyes. Perhaps they were both onto the same thing.

That left Keisaku to be the only one actually paying attention. "Uhm… Margery-san, I think we're going to lose Friagne… again."

"What?" She turned away from the other flame haze and sure enough the Crimson lord was lifting up into the air as if he was about to take his leave. "Hey were do you think you're going buddy!"

"I came here to get rid of the Chanter of Elegies. I don't intend to risk anything fighting two flame haze at once." He said simply.

Margery gave a 'see now look what you did' look over to the Blazing eyed hunter.

"But… If you want our duel to continue, I'll wait for you by the abandoned department store. As long as you don't bring that other flame haze with you." The fiery haired flame haze looked offended by his words as expected. 'pinning the flame haze against each other was easier than expected.' He smirked to himself as he released his seal and vanished from the scene.

"Well you heard him, He's waiting for us." Margery said as she grabbed Keisaku but the collar and stood him up again. "Now we gotta fly all they way to the other side of town because a certain someone felt the need to drop by. We better hurry, we have anymore time to waste considering what his plans."

"What makes you think you get to go fight him! Alastor and I should go instead, I'm sure he's not too picky on who he fights." The red haired Flame Haze protested. "Besides you guys have had your chances to fight him since you've been here longer."

"That's not how it works kiddo. Since I've been here longer that means I get first dibs on fighting him. And that WAS my first actually chance to fight him in a real battle before!"

"But Alastor and I know what Friagne is planning!"

"Yeah so do we!"

"Er… you do?" She blinked awkwardly and lowered her sword. "…the city devouring?"

"We know." Margery frowned. "I'm surprised you guys found out… considering I just did myself moments ago."

"We actually figured it out moments ago too…" She admitted then glanced to the side. "Well, now what?"

The Flame Haze stared each other down in an awkward silence, not sure what do without hostility between them for the moment.

"By the way… what is that thing?" The younger flame haze pointed the tip of the blade at Keisaku.

_'Thing….'_ he felt annoyed at her word choice.

Alastor answered his Flame Haze in Margery's place. "It must be a mystes since it was moving around inside the seal. But why is it with you, Chanter of Elegies? And you also intended to bring it along with you to your battle with Friagne.

"What's it to you guys? Don't ask about things that have nothing to do with you." Margery said, pulling him closer to her.

"You're right, it's just a torch so I really don't care." The Flame haze agreed indifferently. "What really matters is Friagne right now. It looks like since we're on the same page we'll have to do something about him."

"'We'?" Her eyebrow arched. "There's no way I want your help."

"Yeah? Well I don't want to help you either." She said right back. "Besides he said he'll only fight one of us, He's probably not confident on being able to take us two against one."

"He likely thought he wouldn't be able to hold the flame haze off long enough if you tag teamed him " Alastor said.

"But I can't just stand by and wait for you guys to fight him." The Blazing Eyed Hunter spoke up again. "Considering the fact that you've already shown me your incompetence as a flame haze, I can't in my right mind leave this to you. The situation is too grave"

"Really now? I've been handling situations like this for centries. If one of us can handle this, it's clearly me."

"Yeah right! You don't even act like an upstanding flame haze!"

_'They kind of argue like little kids…'_ The Mystes said to himself, surprised at how this argument was playing out.

"Ugh whatever…" Margery gave up. "If it will get you out of my hair, you could go around the city and destroy torches... Well all except this one of course." She gestured to Keisaku. "City Devouring requires stringing all the torches together first. He's sure to start sweating once he figures out that we're not only onto his plan, but ruining it as well."

"That's all you need to tell me then." She responded by spreading her wings. Before taking off she looked back at Margery again. "I haven't forgotten about our fight earlier so don't think we're cooperating or anything."

The blonde smacked her hand to her forehead and groaned. "Would you just leave already?"

"Hmph... whatever." She launched herself into the air and took flight in the opposite direction of where Friagne fled to.

"Is that really the Flame Haze you had a fight with earlier?" Keisaku asked.

"Unfortunately." Margery sighed.

"You're both not fully recovered from the earlier fight… will you guys be able to pull this off?"

"I really could careless about the pipsqueak over there, but I'm sure she'll have no trouble." She shrugged. "And I'll be fine. Now let's end this doll creep once and for all." She grabbed him again unexpectedly and they mounted the gremour.

"I'm looking forward to seeing you kick his ass considering he's the Denizen who is responsible for my existence." Keisaku admitted with a smile. Killing Friagne wouldn't restore his fate in anyway, but he couldn't help but want to see him disposed off. "To think my life was taken for the sake of some stupid plan to devour the city, it pisses me off."

The Chanter of Elegies not only understood, but also related to his anger. "Don't you worry, we'll make him pay." She said and with that the three took off to their next battle.

* * *

**Wow. sorry this is taking so long to update. It's been kinda of hard to find motivation to write for right now because these arcs happened in canon... I feel like I'm dragging myself through Friagne/Lamies and only writing them just to get them over with. The story wont line up with canon after these arcs btw, so updates should be coming out better after that. Literally the only thing getting me through writing these is the thought of the furture chapters I want to write after they're done. Ahhh, I'm so sorry! **


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